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Jul 25 2012 - 10:16am
A candy basslet (Liopropoma carmabi) was just one of the specimens Smithsonian scientists collected from the deep reefs of Curaçao, in the southern Caribbean. To study biodiversity far below the water's surface, the researchers use a five-person submersible.
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Dec 5 2012 - 12:15pm
It may be the last place you’d expect to find corals—up to 6,000 m (20,000 ft) below the ocean’s surface, where the water is icy cold and the light dim or absent. Yet believe it or not, lush coral gardens thrive here. In fact, scientists have discovered nearly as many species of deep-sea...
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Dec 8 2009 - 4:08pm
See some of the remarkable adaptations that deep-sea animals have evolved. Learn more about their habitat and how marine scientists research it in our Deep Ocean Exploration section.
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May 21 2012 - 11:16am
Fitting nine of anything on two fingers is impressive. These mollusks and echinoderms are a teeny-tiny sample of the ocean's biodiversity. The Census of Marine Life estimates that there are at least one million species of plants and animals in the sea -- and most have not been...
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Jan 26 2010 - 11:45am
In 1954 Smithsonian researchers dissected this squid specimen from the stomach of a lancetfish and added it to the Museum’s squid collection. Almost 50 years later, it helped scientists identify a strange, mysterious squid spotted in the deep ocean and describe a new family of squid—the...
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Jun 20 2012 - 9:46am
How biodiverse is one coral reef compared to another? To find out, in Spring 2012, Smithsonian scientist Chris Meyer his students in the Indonesian Biodiversity Research Center (IBRC) course counted different crustacean species in the reef, breaking apart dead corals to count the crabs and shrimps...
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Jan 26 2010 - 11:45am
Tropical coral reefs—found in warm, clear, shallow waters—support a rich diversity of marine life, such as these sea bass in the Red Sea. Learn more in the Ocean Portal's Coral Reefs section.
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Aug 3 2010 - 7:01am
The Census of Marine Life - a ten-year effort by scientists from around the world to answer the age-old question, “What lives in the sea?” It was an international effort to asses the diversity, distribution, and abundance of marine life that lives in our ocean, and the project offically...
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Feb 27 2013 - 9:38pm
Around 100 million years ago, grass from land adapted to live and reproduce while submerged in seawater—the modern-day seagrasses. This sea invasion by land plants happened four separate times, resulting in four unrelated families of 50-60 total seagrass species, which can be found on the coast of...
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May 11 2011 - 12:13pm
Sea stars are important members of marine ecosystems, especially in the tropics. We may think of tropical coral reefs as being home mainly to fish and corals, but in fact these habitats are home to a huge diversity of ecologically important invertebrates.
Sometimes, human influences can throw off...
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Jan 26 2010 - 11:45am
This male giant squid is on display in the Sant Ocean Hall at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History. It measures about 2.7 meters (9 feet) long and weighs a little more than 45.5 kilograms (100 pounds). Found off the coast of Spain, it is on loan to the Smithsonian from the...
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Aug 16 2012 - 11:22am
Enric Sala has spent much of his career looking for the ocean's "time machines" -- areas rich in biodiversity and largely unaffected by humans. In this recorded webcast, Sala, a National Geographic Ocean Fellow, takes the audience to the ocean's last wild places and tells us what scientists are...
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Jan 6 2011 - 4:06pm
Expedition data went to the Arctic Ocean Diversity database of the Census of Marine Life to establish a baseline that will help to document change in the poorly known Arctic Ocean.
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Apr 29 2013 - 9:11am
Like other sea snakes, the turtle-headed sea snake (Emydocephalus annulatus) has fangs and venom. But its venom is weak so, instead of defending with a bite, the species tends to react to danger by swimming back to a crack or crevice to hide. For food, the sea snake sneaks around coral reefs...
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Feb 28 2013 - 10:18am
How many animals swim in the sea? It's not easy to count them all. To get a feel for the ocean's diversity, scientists, such as those involved in the Census of Marine Life, sail out on research cruises to collect and count as many animals as they can find! Shown here is a sample of zooplankton...
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Jan 26 2010 - 11:45am
Dr. Claude Payri, a researcher working on the Moorea Biocode Project, collects samples on the reef slope of Moorea, French Polynesia. More about the Island of Moorea can be found in our Scientists Catalog Life on the Island of Moorea section.
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Jul 5 2011 - 1:19pm
Dr. Carole Baldwin, a research zoologist and fish expert with the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History, gives viewers an inside-look at the Deep Reef Observation Project (DROP). She and her colleagues are trying to understand the biodiversity in coral reefs near Curaçao, an island in...
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Jul 5 2011 - 10:08am
Smithsonian researchers collected a cave basslet (Liopropoma mowbrayi) from the deep reefs of Curaçao, in the southern Caribbean. They used a state-of-the-art submersible to obtain the specimen. The investigations are part of the Deep Reef Observation Project (DROP).
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Jan 26 2010 - 11:45am
Census of Marine Life researchers discovered this unusual transparent sea cucumber (Enypniastes sp.) in the Gulf of Mexico. It creeps forward on its tentacles, sweeping detritus-rich sediment into its mouth. So far Census researchers have discovered more than 5,000 new species. They expect to find...
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Nov 9 2010 - 12:54pm
Marine World Heritage is a prestigious list of 43 marine ecosystems and biodiversity treasures from across the globe, including countries such as Australia, Iceland, Russia, South Africa, the Phillippines, United States, and Yemen. Together, they can be considered the “Crown Jewels of our...
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Jul 31 2012 - 1:06pm
About DROP
DROP is a multidisciplinary Smithsonian project exploring the diversity of tropical deep reefs off the coast of Curaçao in the southern Caribbean. Deep reefs are natural extensions of shallow water reefs. But because they lie beyond SCUBA diving depths, deep reefs are underexplored...
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Jul 14 2011 - 11:11am
Smithsonian zoologists inside the Curasub, a 5-person submersible. They're exploring the biodiversity of the deep reefs off Curaçao in the southern Caribbean. Read more and watch videos about the work in our "Summer in a Sub" blog series.
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Jul 5 2011 - 2:15pm
You never know where following your passions can take you. I came to the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History (NMNH) two years ago as a research intern after graduating with a Bachelor’s degree in biology. I never expected, two years later, to spend a summer working with scientists, sub...
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Nov 21 2012 - 11:25am
A whale shark swims with a diver off the coast of Southern Mozambique. Photo: Caine Delacy.
When we think "Africa," we think of the "Big Five"—lions, elephants, leopards, buffalo and rhinos—that crisscross the African Savannah. Few would imagine that there could be more natural beauty on offer. But...
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